Mosque Mess

The President was correct in his initial remarks in support of the mosque in New York near the site of the trade center. He was equally right when later he appeared to weaken that initial statement. Our nation is now almost violently bifurcated, partly along party lines and partly along racial lines. In his initial statement in support of the mosque's location he was simply reaffirming his faith in our American mythology of equality under the law and absolute freedom of religion. The far right immediately jumped on the opportunity to criticize the President and get in a few digs at him and all democrats. This criticism was immediately met with equally vociferous argument in support for his position.

Then when the President appeared to be softening his original stance on the issue, again the far right jumped in to denounce him for waffling and many democrats also felt that he had at least partially pulled back from his original support. Both groups are completely wrong and looking at the issue from too narrow a perspective. This issue is not about scoring political points. It's about maintaining out democratic ideals.

The President seems to be the only person who sees that he must maintain a calm position as a counter weight to the intense emotions that govern reactions of most everybody else. We need to deal rationally with this problem and the President's latest remarks show that he is thinking like a President, seeing the need to tone down national rhetoric so that we can resolve the problem without further widening the chasm between Americans. In other words, he is thinking like a President. How fully aware he was of the hit he was going to take, I cannot know, but I believe that he knows that a President has to look beyond parochial concerns to larger national interests. In this case, that larger national interest is to foster social and political peace and stability, not aggravate already contentious relations. That is the job of a President. I think this President is filling that role well, taking a punch when necessary but maintaining a calm demeanor and hold a steady course.

History, I think, will show that Obama, abused as was Abraham Lincoln before him, has the self-assurance and inner strength to lead this nation through an equally trying period of our history.